The Evatt Foundation was established in 1979 as a memorial to Dr Herbert Vere Evatt with the aim of advancing the highest ideals of the labour movement: equality, democracy, social justice and human rights. For 40 years, the Foundation has been pursuing this aim through research, publications, public discussion and debate.

 

The Evatt Foundation was launched in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney on 27 September 1979. Before a large audience of supporters. inspirational speeches were made by: Sir Richard Kirby, the inaugural President of the Evatt Foundation, Sir Zelman Cowen, Governor-General of Australia, Neville Wran, QC MP, Premier of New South Wales, Bill Hayden, MP, Leader of the Federal Labor Party, Hal Missingham, former Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Bob Hawke, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and Faith Bandler, leader of the successful campaign to remove discriminatory provisions of the Constitution in the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal Australians. The vote of thanks was moved by Gough Whitlam AC QC, former Prime Minister of Australia. To mark the 40th anniversary, this booklet publishes the five surviving original speeches.   

 

Over the four decades, the Evatt Foundation has been located in the Chief Secretary's Building (Macquarie Street, Sydney), the New South Wales Labour Council building, on the campus of the University of New South Wales and in the Sydney Trades Hall. In keeping with its origins and Dr Evatt's own career as a brilliant student, the Foundation has been affiliated with the University of Sydney since 2007. 

 

The Evatt Foundation has always enjoyed the support of a loyal membership base, and has established an enduring public profile through its program of seminars, conferences and publications. The guiding hand of the institution’s policy direction and management has been the Executive Committee. The names of all office holders since inception are recorded at the end of this commemorative booklet.

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Sheil, Christopher (ed.) (2019), 40 Years 1979-2019: Evatt Foundation, Sydney: Evatt Foundation.

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ISBN-13-9780-9953752-4-6 PDF

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This booklet is available as a free download.